Squoosh

by Karen Alfke on November 30, 2016

We knitters are tactile creatures. When we say “can I see that?,” what we really mean is “can I touch it?”

The feeling of a soft yarn running through our fingers is part of the meditation, part of the healing nature of knitting and crochet. So much of our modern life is digital and indirect – at the end of a day at the office/computer/on the phone, it’s nice to come home and sink into your favorite chair with a skein of something that pets you back.

And perhaps the highest praise a knitter can give a yarn is to ‘squoosh’ it – to clutch it as close to the face as possible and just s-q-u-e-e-z-e it, as if to eke out every little drop of soft yumminess you can. (This is the same response usually reserved for puppies and kittens and some baked goods.)

I do believe I have found the yarn for which the term ‘squoosh’ was invented – Sookie.

Like its namesake on “Gilmore Girls,” Sookie is a bit of plump, soft deliciousness that’s a joy to be in a room with. It’s a softly-spun single that never threatens to pull or tear, with a super-soft surface that demands to be petted like a little bunny rabbit. And with each skein weighing in at 250 grams and 136 yards, you have a generous quantity to play with. One skein will easily make a large cowl – and that’s just where you’ll want Sookie: right up as close to your face as possible, so you can squoosh up in it when no one is looking (or maybe even if they are – it’s that yummy).So it’s good news that there are any number of quick and easy (and free!) cowl patterns on Ravelry to choose from so you can indulge your senses with a bit of Sookie. I liked the seed stitch texture of Marian by Jane Richmond, which does a nice job of pixellating the washes of color. On US17 needles, this cowl knitted up in just a few hours – not even long enough for me to catch up on episodes of “Gilmore Girls!” (You can see my project notes, including needle size, stitch counts, and final dimensions here on Ravelry.)

And here’s some great news for you – Tina’s agreed to keep Sookie is at its special discounted price of $27 for the next few days, before it goes up to its regular price of $34. (Which is still a screaming deal for this much scrumptious softness, if you ask me.)

As ridiculously soft as it is, and as quick as it is to knit, Sookie is the ideal candidate for those last-minute knitted gifts. Your fancy friend who just moved to New York City would LOVE a cowl to go with her new shearling-lined moto jacket. Your perpetually-cold friend in Milwaukee could really use something this warm and soft as she runs from her office to the parking lot. Even your hard-to-shop-for twenty-something nephew would love a 2×2 ribbed muffler – perhaps in “Manly Yes, But I Like It, Too” (my go-to colorway for the gentlemen on my list).

But knitters – please. Don’t forget yourselves! Because after all the fun of choosing colorways for friends and relatives, and after the instant gratification of hours of softness running through your fingers, and the satisfied sighs of wrapping up your handknits and sending them on their way to their lucky new owners… You don’t want to leave yourself in a house bereft of *any* Sookie at all. Save a skein or two. For yourself. After the holiday frenzy, but before the baked goods are all gone, put a few nibbles on a plate, pour a glass of something festive, and sink into the colorful softness of a skein of Sookie – just for you.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be over here, napping in a skein of I smell SNOW!